We are all expecting a lot from Robert Kennedy Jr. now he has been appointed as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). We had already started an overview page, not too long ago (1), but here’s a special on this huge category of possibly toxic ingredients that are allowed to enter into the American food because of the ‘GRAS’-loophole.

In the video below (2), Kennedy explains what GRAS means, why it allowed for possible toxins in American food (he talks about 10,000 ingredients, whereas only 400 would be allowed in Europe), and how he intends to change the situation for the better. Below the video you can read most of the transcript of the video.

GRAS: WHAT IS IT?
Robert Kennedy Jr.: “In 1958, the government created a designation called Generally Recognized as Safe, or GRAS, so that we can make common ingredients like salt and baking soda exempt from testing. But today, it isn’t just salt and baking soda. Food companies and cooperative regulators have enlarged the GRAS exemption so that these companies can decide for themselves whether a substance is generally recognized as safe. No FDA approval is needed. 

DIFFERENCES WITH EUROPE
European nations, on the other hand, require that a chemical be proven safe before it becomes a food ingredient. In our country, the GRAS standard means that every chemical is presumed safe until proven dangerous, and that proof might not happen until millions of Americans are sick with chronic disease. This mass experiment on the American population with GRAS has, in short, been a catastrophe. We now have around 10,000 chemicals in our food, while Europe has only 400.

For example, titanium dioxide (3-6), potentially linked to DNA damage and cancer, is banned in the EU, but it’s in our children’s food. Potassium bromate (7), a suspected carcinogen, banned in Europe and Japan. And you guessed it, it’s in our children’s bread.

Food dyes, such as red dye 40 and yellow 5 and 6, come with warning labels in Europe, they’re linked to behavioral issues in children, but in the US, they’re generally recognized as safe. 

TIME FOR CHANGE
I can’t really blame the food companies. They’re just doing what we’ve allowed them to get away with in a system that’s taken on a life of its own.

We all agree now that it’s time to change the system, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. I am today directing the FDA commissioner to start the process of changing the rules to eliminate the self-affirming grass pathway for new ingredients. 

I’m also directing the FDA and NIH to ramp up post-market assessments of grass chemicals currently in our food, so that we can rapidly identify the compounds that are making Americans so sick, and so that American consumers and regulators can make informed decisions.

This issue isn’t going away. Moms aren’t going to return to wanting chemicals in our food that are banned in other developed countries. Even industry knows that we have to change.

So I promise you, I’m going to work with all parties, the companies, the moms, the scientists, the consumer advocates, to make American food the healthiest in the world, the way that it was when I was a child.”

FOOTNOTES
(1) Robert Kennedy Jr. as Health Secretary – an Overview
(2) https://t.me/lauraaboliarchive/15718/16008
(3) ‘Check your label’: Popular vitamins and supplements linked to two types of cancer
(4) Titanium dioxide: E171 no longer considered safe when used as a food additive
(5) It seems the EU has decided to backtrack on their earlier decision in regard to titaniumoxide: The EU General Court has annulled the classification of titanium dioxide in certain powder forms as carcinogenic.
(6) Chemical nations: how member states defend their dirty industries
(7) The Truth About Potassium Bromate